Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Boomgaylove

The following discussion is an archived debate of the case of suspected sockpuppetry. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page. All edits should go to the talk page of this case. If you are seeing this page as a result of an attempt to open a new case of sockpuppetry of the same user, read this for detailed instructions.

User:Boomgaylove

Suspected sockpuppeteer: Boomgaylove (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)

Suspected sockpuppets: 24.180.37.2 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); 67.169.63.124 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Icamepica (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Cholga (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Umiumitooti (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Carritotito (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Qrc2006 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); HeebieJeebies (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)

Admitted sockpuppet: 71.142.64.177 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)

Blocked for sockpuppetry: Nonolip (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Blotto adrift4 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Stinging P (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Discharging P (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log); Belicia (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)

Report submission by

jonny-m t 03:15, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Evidence

The first IP above started editing on February 24 (a couple of days after User:Boomgaylove was blocked indefinitely), immediately starting in on the user's former haunts, including J Stalin and Talk:Potrero Hills. The editing style is startlingly similar and includes ipa queries, removal of non-controversial content citing BLP, nit-picking about accents on Spanish-language words, and arguing Boomgaylove's position on Potrero Hills.

The second IP only has a handful of edits starting on February 23, but the most telling is the addition of a helpme template to User:Boomgaylove's talk page, and the renomination of the J Stalin article for deletion.

(from the AN/I report) On [User_talk:71.142.64.177] the editor admits to sockpuppetry and meatpuppetry in response to dividing 8RR edits up among the IP and logged-in accounts, saying that he/she "didn't do it all myself. other people use this computer and i aked them to edit for me." (sic). (added by Wikidemo (talk) 07:25, 25 February 2008 (UTC)) After boomgaylove was blocked, this IP sockpuppet of boomgaylove returned to one of the articles to make a contentious edit.[1] Wikidemo (talk) 19:53, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It was just pointed out to me that the first IP address above made this edit adding an AfD notice to the article Cypress Village, Oakland, California, which was in turn started by Icamepica (talk · contribs). Given that only the creator of the AfD would know that it exists and that the creation of the AfD and the addition of the tag share a timestamp, it seems safe to say that Icamepica is also linked to this IP address, which I believe is in turn linked to Boomgaylove. This irreverant edit notwithstanding, this request on User talk:ILike2BeAnonymous is also suspiciously similar to this edit on User talk:SqueakBox. (added by jonny-m t 08:33, 25 February 2008 (UTC))[reply]
- This comment on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cypress Village, Oakland, California confirms the connection. --jonny-m t 10:50, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) Yes, clearly 24.180.37.2 and Icamepica are the same. Between them they have been edit warring, canvassing, forum shopping, and engaging in some of the same quirky editing and obscure issues as boomgaylove and some other unnamed parties. They have also taken up editing many of the same articles as boomgaylove now that boomgaylove is blocked, including Kyburz, Kyburz, California, Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California, Point Isabel (promontory), and of course J Stalin and Cypress Village, Oakland, California‎. Wikidemo (talk) 11:26, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Some connections:

Cholga=24.180.37.2. Note last four revisions here[2], and then this[3] in sequence of this edit war[4].
Icamepica=24.180.31.2 - see above (which already means the same user is using three alternate accounts to edit war the same set of articles).
24.180.31.2/boomgaylove/71.142.64.177=cholga/24.180.37.2/Icamepica - I'll get to that in a little while but the articles edited, technique, language, and positions between these two sets of sockpuppets are the same.

- Wikidemo (talk) 11:35, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This diff alone proves the connection between Cholga and 24.180.37.2 (one past the diff linked to above). --jonny-m t 12:10, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

On Feb. 28, after about 3 months of inactivity, Cholga suddenly made 120+ edits in one day, taking up the work of boomgaylove and icamepica. On that day the editor nominated 2 three articles for deletion including yet another Oakland high-crime black neighborhood.[5], participating in icamepica/boomgaylove's articles of interest and AfD efforts (example[6]) definitely fits the pattern of editing bay area geography articles, nominating articles for deletion, and mens' gay and gay sexuality related articles (not wrong and not proof in itself, just a connection) Wikidemo (talk) 21:05, 28 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've added Umiumitooti (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) and Carritotito (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) to the report. Although neither have edited in a month or so, given the level of sockpuppetry that seems to be occurring, I think it is best to go ahead and ferret out all the confirmed accounts.

Umiumitooti's first edit was creating the Pasatiempo, California article , in which they specifically noted that pasatiempo means "passtime" (not "pasttime") in Spanish. Not surprisingly, they soon participated in the edit war at Potrero Hills, supporting the position of Boomgaylove both there and on the talk page. They are further linked to User:Icamepica by this diff, where Icamepica makes an identical claim about the Spanish meaning of pasatiempo, misspelling and all.

Carritotito is linked, not surprisingly, through Potrero Hills, where they supported Boomgaylove's position in the edit war here (complete with personal attack) and here. It is also worth noting that their first edit was a redirect of an article. --jonny-m t 16:59, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

HeebieJeebies was accused of being a sockpuppet of Cholga in 2007. See User talk:HeebieJeebies.

Comments

Please see this archived ANI thread for the discussion that led to the indefinite block. --jonny-mt 03:35, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- I've added another IP address to the report. --jonny-m t 03:52, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There has been a new resurgence of contentious edits by a variety of editors. At least two of the articles boomgaylove was trying to gut are now up for deletion again and people have flocked to those discussions. Some of these editors are behaving suspiciously like boomgaylove but I'm not sure I have enough to publicly accuse them of sockpuppetry. What's next? A checkuser request? I'm pretty sure it would be granted given that the user has already admitted to sockpuppetry. Wikidemo (talk) 07:25, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(follow-up). This series of edits is certainly interesting. Perhaps a fine line between meatpuppetry and a concerted but misguided attempt by several editors to join forces to oppose me. I have no stake or interest in the subject matter, just trying to help the project deal with disruptive editors. I guess the bottom line is, are these people for real but simply misinformed, or is boomgaylove among or behind the group, which makes the rest of them editors in support of a blocked user. Wikidemo (talk) 08:55, 25 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Note: user:Icamepica has just nominated two more Oakland-related articles for deletion including Acorn, Oakland, California, and Campbell Village Court, Oakland, California (this second one may in fact not be notable). If this user is a sock we should try to figure this out quickly because it is taking a lot of effort to keep up with all this. Wikidemo (talk) 08:21, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agenda driven, disruptive, evasive replies. . . redirects a page on first day of editing--smells like a sock to me. R. Baley (talk) 09:28, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think I just got confirmation of sockpuppetry on Icamepica and at least one other account. Do you think I should disclose that now or wait to see if he/she leads us to other accounts? Wikidemo (talk) 09:34, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Whatever you think best . . .I'll email. R. Baley (talk) 09:38, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

this edit at User talk:Wikidemo, mentioned by jonny-mt as an "irreverent edit" above, appears to me to be a clear admission of sockpuppetry by Icamepica. --Coppertwig (talk) 11:44, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
- Well, that comment seems to me to be a bit of a red herring--based on their behavior and respective histories, I seriously doubt that all of those users are the same. I'm certainly not discounting it as an admission of sockpuppetry in general, but neither am I planning on putting all of those names up here. --jonny-m t 12:05, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

At this point we're fairly sure (based on conclusions below) that Icamepica is one of a group of related sockpuppet accounts. Is that enough to block him/her? The current block expires in a few hours. I gave a notice to Qrc2006 because they had been accused here and added two now users, Nonolip and Blotto adrift4, now indefinitely blocked for sockpuppetry. I also started compiling a list of blocked sockpuppets who seem to have something to do with this. The commonality among the troll clusters so far is: (1) trolling on the J Stalin deletion nomination, (2) improper use of administrator templates; and (3) posting phony reports of "harassment" and "vandalism" on AN/I and other administrative locations against users who are on to them. Wikidemo (talk) 02:43, 27 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Some thoughts re. tying the boomgaylove cluster to the Cholga cluster. A few patterns

Interest in Bay Area, California geography articles

Attaching fact and citation tags

Grammatical errors and typos

Wikigaming using strained and often bizarre interpretations of policy

Claiming BLP, NPA, AGF, vandalims, harassment, stalking against people who catch them, filing reports (often in wrong place) of same

Creating policy forks, canvassing

Wikignoming (often contentiously and edit warring) on matters of capitalization, punctuation, etc.

Interest in projects, drugs, crime, and Oakland, California (deleting content that seems to portray people of color, poor neighborhoods, housing projects, etc., in bad light)

I would amend that to "interest in articles about places in Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin Counties, in the Bay Area, California"; she (self-described as that gender) has edited dozens of articles on places there. I've been following (and tangling with!) this editor pretty closely for about a year now, and have been convinced for some time that all of the named editors are sockpuppets (I originally encountered her as "Qrc2006"; she then morphed into "Cholga", then most recently into "Boomgaylove". In all cases, her editing patterns are so distinctive as to be a dead give-away.) +ILike2BeAnonymous (talk) 19:01, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Interest in gay male sexual issues (including sex-related user names)

Careless (or deliberate) leaving of clues, e.g. making IP and logged in edits in quick proximity; admitting to things that reveal sockpuppetry

Articles with Spanish names and pronunciations

Cholga (talk · contribs) just made this edit to Potrero Hills, which completely ignores the discussion on the related talk page. I've since reverted it. --jonny-m t 01:21, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What about Carritotito? I think this is one of this editor's socks (it's in the list of suspected socks above), and I noticed an edit by it today here. Fits the pattern on two counts (questions about words in Spanish at the language reference desk, and on sexual subjects). Shouldn't this one be blocked as well? +ILike2BeAnonymous (talk) 08:51, 9 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This account was listed as "likely" under the CheckUser case, which I assume means it has a similar but not identical IP to the rest. From my understanding of how autoblock works, though, I would expect him to get caught if it is in fact Boomgaylove. I guess nothing to do right now but watch their contributions for blatant socking activity. --jonny-m t 00:53, 10 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Conclusions: There's some serious socking going on in these; I'm working through them and blocking obvious connections. Will update this later. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 01:26, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To expand, there appear to be two groups of users;

Stinging P (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Discharging P (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Belicia (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

and perhaps others form one group that is geographically separated from the others. I haven't yet managed to link Icamepica (talk · contribs) to Boomgaylove (talk · contribs) but it looks more likely. There are a number of other socks as well. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 05:03, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note I've just blocked Icamepica for 24 hours for disruption; this is aside from the possibility of any socking. Neıl ☎ 12:52, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I just added Umiumitooti (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). I think the combination of their contribution history and that of User:24.180.37.2 add some serious credibility to the Boomgaylove/Icamepica connection, as both of the first set of accounts link to both of the second set of accounts. --jonny-m t 17:43, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Further: Icamepica (talk · contribs) and Umiumitooti (talk · contribs) are the same person. Furthermore, it is quite possible Carritotito (talk · contribs) is also the same person: they edit from the same nation and I find it unlikely that two people from there have the same interests in Californian topics, but there is no definitive connection. Furthermore, Icamepica appears to have edited from that nation in the past but is now editing from US addresses, making the link to other users more likely. Qrc2006 (talk · contribs) and Cholga (talk · contribs) are also Icamepica. No definitive connection yet to Boomgaylove. Matthew Brown (Morven) (T:C) 00:37, 27 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I can confirm for you (apart from IP checks, that is) that Qrc2006, Cholga and Boomgaylove are one and the same person editing under different pseudonyms. I've crossed swords many times with her (she stated her gender as female on some discussion page here some time ago). Of course, it's possible that they have access to more than one computer, but I'm sure a checkuser will reveal at least a close proximity of the IP addresses used. But there's no doubt in my mind that they're all one editor. Same grammar, spelling, capitalization, etc., mistakes (in general, extremely sloppy use of English), same topics edited (the Bay Area place articles and the gay stuff, fisting, etc.); even the same questions posed to the language reference desk here, mostly on meanings and usages of Spanish words. +ILike2BeAnonymous (talk) 19:09, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See also Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/Boomgaylove which confirms most of what has been discussed here. In particular Qrc2006, Cholga and Boomgaylove are all now indef blocked for abusive sockpuppetry, along with a slew of other socks. It looks like Cholga is the oldest account. Gwernol 21:09, 1 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What about Angela from the Blue (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)? Jehochman ^Talk 16:34, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not the same editor. What makes you think they're related to this set of socks? +ILike2BeAnonymous (talk) 17:50, 6 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I think it was the vandalism and targeting of articles related to homosexuality. It looks like this is about to be cleared up at Wikipedia:Requests for checkuser/Case/Kermanshahi, although given the complete lack of subtlety in their edits I'd be surprised if this account was related to Boomgaylove. --jonny-m t 02:21, 7 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]